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AFTER exposing her children to indecent acts with her husband and having sex with the pet dog, a 30-year-old Western Downs woman was lucky to escape jail.

Having been sexually abused as a child, subjected to domestic violence, lived in foster homes and been homeless, a psychologist concluded the mum's judgment and reasoning abilities would have been impaired.

The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, said she only did the acts under pressure from her husband, who wanted to create a photographic collection of lewd acts.

The mother of six was only 17 years of age when she married her 36-year-old husband who, she claimed, was manipulative, abusive and had threatened to harm her family if she did not pose for the photographs.

Crown prosecutor Shauna Rankine told Brisbane District Court on Wednesday that exposure to those acts, together with supplying them alcohol, amounted to "significant cruelty" to her children.

She said the older four children - born in 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2007 - were affected by the conduct through bed-wetting, tantrums, anger management and self-control issues and sexualised behaviour.

Ms Rankine said the behaviour had caused "psychological and emotional harm" and asked for 1.5 to 2.5 years jail.

She said police found eight sets of photographs involving indecent acts the children had viewed but the children spoke of others they had witnessed, including the older boy sucking on his mother's lactating breasts.

Ms Rankine said the mum told authorities she did not think the photos were deviant or promiscuous which showed she lacked insight into her offending.

Judge Douglas McGill ordered the mother complete three years of probation, including psychological help if directed, for exposing her children to "deviant sexual behaviour" for more than four years.

He said the pressure from her husband reduced her criminality and noted it was hard to differentiate the behavioural consequences of those acts on the children when their father had sexually abused some of them.

Judge McGill also questioned whether foetal alcohol syndrome could have played a part in her children's issues since the woman drank heavily throughout her pregnancies.

"There were indecent acts in the presence of the children and indecent acts involving your oldest child," he said.